Cleaning pad



P 1937. J. M. WATSON 2,076,664

CLEAN I NG PAD Filed March 25, 1935 2 Sheets Sh eet 1 INVENTOR JOHN M Mn sazv ATTORNEY 4 April 13, 1937.

J. M. WATSON CLEANING PAD Filed March 25, 1955 2 snags-sheet 2 INVENTOR JoHNM .wqrson ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 13, 1937 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLEANING ran John M. Watson, New York, N. 1., assignor to Padco Inc.', a corporation of New York Application March 25, 1935, Serial No. 12,821

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in cleaners for cleaning and polishing metal, and other surfaces, and more particularly to a cleaning pad, whereby the cleaner is ready for use and when not in use may be kept in the container which is adapted to protect the cleaner from the effect of the atmosphere.

An object of the invention is to provide a cleaner that is simple and cheap and relatively 0 small as compared to the usual rag, sponge or cloth commonly employed for cleaning and which may therefore be discarded after having been used a few times.

Another object is to provide a cleaner compact that is cheap to make and readily transportable. 'A further object is to provide a cleaner in combination with a container to keep the cleaner from evaporation.

Another object is to provide cleaner compacts that are readily displayed for sale.

Another object is to provide an improved formula for impregnating suitable wads of fibrous material for use as cleaners.

The invention consists substantially in the construction, combination and relative arrangement of parts, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, as shown by the accompanying drawings and finally pointed out in the appended claims. 30. In order to more fully describe the invention, reference is had to the following drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an external view of an individual container having therein, a cleaning unit;

Figure 2 is an external end view of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a top view showing the top open; Figure 4 is a sectional view of a package container having therein six of the individual containers shown in the preceding figures; Figure 5 is an end view of package container shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an isometric view of another form of cleaning unit;

Figure 7 is a sectional view of the cleaning 45 unit, Figure 6, in the individual container shown in Figure 1;

Figure 8 is an exterior view of a display box containing a quantity of the individual con- 0 tainer's, Figure 1, which in turn may contain any form of cleaning units;

Figure 8a is a sectional view-of the lid of the box shown in Figure 8' showing one of the cleaning units of the type shown in Figure '7 removed 55 from its individual container;

Figure 9 is a sectional view of an alternate form of package container for cleaning units;

Figure 10 is a view, partly in section, of a rollof cleaning units adapted to fit into the container shown in Figure 9;

Figure .11 is a view partly in section, of a package container adapted to hold individual cleaners to be pressed out of one end for use as hereinafter described, the container to act as a holder for the cleaners while in use;

Figure 12 is another view, partlyin section, of the combination shown in Figure 11;

Figures 13, 14 and 15 are other alternate forms of construction for a combination package, holder and cleaner;

Figures 16, 17 and 18 are forms of construction of a plurality of cleaners adapted to be divided intoindividual units; and

Figure 19 is a side view of the cleaners shown in Figure 18.

Cleaners have heretofore been offered the public in various forms, such as liquid contained in bottles or various paste compositions in boxes and the user was obliged to apply the contents of the bottle or box to a suitable rag or sponge, rub the article to be cleaned and then remove the surplus material with another rag. This necessitated the user keeping on hand a suitable supply of' rags in addition to the cleaner.

Attempts to overcome the difiiculties inherent in the foregoing method of cleaning have been made, in which a rag or piece of fibrous ma terial was impregnated. with the cleaning fluid or paste and which rag was applied to the object to be cleaned. Such rags, however, rapidly become very dirty and must be thrown aWay not because they will no longer function, but because they are so badly soiled as notto be usable.

The present invention eliminates all of the foregoing difficulties, by providing an impregnated wad of cotton, wool, paper or other fibrous material. Such an impregnated wad may be given any suitable physical form. Some forms are shown in the drawings and are hereinafter more fully described. Such wads or cleaners Y maybe small in size, say 2 x 2 x $4,," and may Such wads must, however, be prevented from drying out when not in use. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide them with inexpensive casings from which they can be repeatedly removed, used and replaced' Such casings are a lized paper or any other suitable material having a top portion 22 adapted to be folded on itself to form a substantially air-tight seal, the

2 1o folded top being held by the metal strap i: having projecting ears 24', 26, which may be repeatedly opened and bent over the top. as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4. Such an individual package or compact may also have a wad of plain material suitably packed to keep it from contact with the impregnated wad, to be used on the work to remove all traces of the mixture with which the wad is impregnated, and such compacts may be retailed for a few cents and the purchaser receives a complete cleaning kit ready for use and all bottles or tins of liquid or paste polish and the necessity of finding cloths or waste, or of repeatedly using alarge dirty rag that has outlived its usefulness, is eliminated.

These compacts may be assembled in a carton I 26 as shown in Figuresi and 5; The compact that has been used may be inverted, as shown at 21, and when .thrown away, the next compact is brought into use and so on until all the compacts have been used. The resultant package'affords the purchaser a plurality of compacts each ready for use without opening the others, anda carton to contain all the compacts.

Figures 6 and '7 show an' alternate form of cleaner comprising a Wed 20 stitched or otherwise secured to a backing 22 of heavy cardboard or the like to which a suitable holder 22 is se-.

cured. The user places two or three fingers in the holder and is therefore enabled to use the cleaner without the hands coming in contact with the impregnated wad 28. 7 When not in use, the cleaner, Figure 6, may be included within the casing 2| which may be similar in construction to the bag 2i previously In Figures8 and 8a isshown adisplay case, generally indicated by the numeral 22, having a lid 22 adapted to-be raisedtherefrom. said lid having means such as an outwardly projecting tongue 22 adapted to receive one of the cleaners such as that shown. in Figure 6, and which is generally denoted by the numeral 26, Figure Ba. This enables a cleaner to be displayed where a prospective purchaser may remove it from the tongue or, support 24, give it a trial and return it thereto. The casing 22 contains a plurality of the compacts, as shown in Figures 1 or 7, for it is obvious that the plain wad without the holder can be phced on the support-instead of the form shown in Figure 6. Figure 9 shows a plurality of impregnated wads 26 placedin an ordinary tin'container 21 whereby they are protected from the action of air and instead of these individual wads 20, a strip of wadding 22, Figure 10, may be impregnated and provided with an inner and outer wall 22 which is stitched or partially severed in any suitable manner as indicated by the dotted lines 42 so that the individual pieces may be detached from the roll which as a whole can be enclosed within the cam 21.

InFigures 11 and izisshownacasingll provided with heads", 42, on each end thereof, containing a plurality of impregnated wads ll.

5 Byremovingtheheadathewadsmaybepushed less preferred) outwardly one at a time as shown at 22, Figure 12, and fromtimeto timeas the wads are used uptheoutercasingmaybetornoifalongthe perforated lines indicated at 22.

Figures Y14 and 15 show an alternate form of s outer casing 21 and an inner casing 42. In the modification shown in Figure 13 the wads are merely separated from each other by the partitions l2; and if the head 22 is removed with a knife and some of the casing 42 tom oi! along 10 a perforated line or cut away with a knife, the wadding may be This operation is repeatedasthestackofwadsisusedup. In Figure 14 the arrangement is substantially the same except that instead of separate par- 15 titions being used,:a single zigzag piece-oftreated cardboard ii is employed as a spacer.

In Figure 15,-a modification is shown in which an outer casing 22 is employed which-is bent inwardly asindieated at 22 in order to restrain 20 the wads- 04 as they are pressed out by means of the sliding rear cap 66. The front end of the casing is provided with a cap 66 to protect the wads remaining in the casing when not in use.

Figure i'lis an alternate form of cleaner. comprising the wad 21 secured to the back-plate 26 of cardboard or other suitable. material and is provided with a handle 22, the wad, back plate and handle being secured together by any suit- 30 able means such as the pin 60. Thiscleaner may be packed in a suitable envelope, such as usedfor the cleaners Figures 1 and 7.

Figures 16, 10 and 19 show various forms of wads having outer fabric casin s. generally de- 35 noted in all of the figures by the numeral 0|. These wads are made up in the form of long strips or pads andare divided in the eased the pad shown in Figure 16 by the stitching or ribbing 62,orasshowninFlgures 18 and 19 bythecross 40 cuts or stitches 22. This enablesthe large pads tobecutupintosmallcleaningwadswhichcan beus'edoneatatimeandthenthrownaway, andthesepads oanbepackedinanysuitable containers such as'that shown in Figure 0,.removed thereimm and a single wad cut of! and usedandthrownawamthebalanceofthepad being retained in its air-tight box ready for use.

A suitable composition or mixture for impregnating any of thewads described herein is as follows:.

pints of a suitable solvent of medium volatility such as varnolene, nlene, solvent naphtha or chlorinated hydrocarbons, mixed with 25 pints of a solvent of lower volatility than the first mentioned solvent used such as kerosene (odor- I 8 lbs. of a suitable wax is added to the foregoing solvents. Montan or carnauba wax is suitable and the wax is dissolved in the solvents by heat. The resultant mixture is allowed to cool.

The varnolene mentioned above is a product well knownin the art and maybe designated as a petroleum fraction tree from aromatic hydrocar-' hens and containing not over 2 per cent of unsaturated hydrocarbons; which petroleum fraction has an initial boiling point between 300' F. and 310 F., a dry or maximum boiling point between 400' F. and 4153 1 a flash point between F. and F., a fire point between F. and F., and a gravity between 49' B6. and

T0 at pints of the foregoing is added site. of a mixture of equal parts of a suitable abrasive such as amorphous silica (iniusorial earth. air- 75 floated 300 mesh) anda suitable soft polishing agent such as whiting (precipitated chalk).

The entire mixture is thoroughly mixed in any suitable manner such as by a mill and is then applied to the wads by saturating same therewith. The wads may be wrung or pressed out to remove the surplus liquid and may be given a light drying to remove more of the surplus volatile solvents. The resultant wad is thoroughly impregnated with the mixture without any free excess and is adapted to be handled without drip and is now ready for use. The amountof liquid in the wad is such that any liquid adhering to the fingers soon evaporates, so that the hands are not soiled thereby.

The term volatility corresponds with the vaporization of the solvent, the vaporization continues over a period of time. The commercial cleaner has to be applied by a fibrous material of which paper is selected as the most practical. It is necessary to reduce the wax to such a state of viscosity that it will penetrate and saturate the fibers of the paper when it is applied; but a solvent of a high volatility that secures this result soon evaporates, resulting in a hardening of the wax which would gradually impair its usefulness as a cleaner. To avoid this condition, thesecond solvent is used having a low volatility and is slow to evaporate, hence for practical purposes the second solvent remains in the wax and maintains it in a plastic condition until it is to be used. If the second solvent only were used, the fibers of the paper would not be fully impregnated with the cleaning agent, the

paper could not be used either side for cleaning,

and the cleaner pad could not be applied by removing the top sheet for use by itself. The result produces a cleaning pad made of layers of paper, each layer being removable and being a complete cleaning agent in itself which is instantly ready for use. There is no excess wax or plastic mate-' harden and destroy the usefulness of the cleaning pad.

It will be observed from the foregoing specification that the invention broadly contemplates a cleaner wad consisting of a piece of fibrous material impregnated with a mixture containing a solvent, a wax, an abrasive and a polishing agent and that in some of the forms shown, this cleaning wad is combined with a reusable substantially air-tight container, the whole forming what is herein termed a cleaner compact, the same constituting a new and useful article of manufacture not heretofore known and of general utility especially for household use, as it eliminates the keeping on hand of bottles of liquid cleaner which are often inflammable, and the necessity for keeping on hand a supply of rags, polishing cloths and the like.

A division from this application is filed under Serial Number 121,344, on January 19, 1937.

What is claimed:

1. A cleaner wad comprising a piece of paper impregnated with a mixture comprising a wax solvent of a higher volatility than kerosene, a second wax solvent of a volatility corresponding to kerosene, a wax, an abrasive, and a polishing agent adapted to maintain said mixture in a condition -for immediate use on the work to be cleaned.

2. A cleaner wad consisting of a piece of fibrous material impregnated with a mixture of varnolene, kerosene, wax, an abrasive and a polishing agent, and adapted to apply said mixture to the work to be cleaned.

JOHN M. WATSON. 

